Snow and the phantom offer
Winter house hunting is when the improbable happens. Wednesday night into Thursday, this week, is a case in point.
Wednesday:
5:15 PM: It was snowing lightly. A suburban agent who called to inform me a co-broke Offer was coming in on a house my clients saw last weekend.
(a “co-broke Offer” is agent-speak for an Offer from outside the listing company.)
My clients saw this house last weekend as part of a left-overs tour. It was their favorite of the bunch. Suddenly, during a snowstorm, it was do-or-die on a house that was on the market two-and-a-half months and had been at the same price through January. Did my clients want to bite? By 6:03 PM, we established a 10 AM appointment for the following day. The luxury of seeing it Sunday was gone.
Thursday:
As you know, there was a fresh foot or so of snow on the ground and the sun was shining by 8 AM. Being an urban person, I was out shoveling with my fellow car-dependents. We waved cheerfully to our MBTA commuter-neighbors as they walked to the T.
10 AM: The driveway and walk were cleared when we arrived for the showing.
During the showing, I called the agent with some questions. While on the phone, I confirmed that the other Offer was, in fact, in. The agent said, “of course, that’s why I was pressuring you to show it fast…I don’t do ‘that stuff’” I said that I knew she was a good agent, but I had to ask.
At the end of the showing, we trudged through about a-foot-and-a-half of snow to check out some features in the back yard. An aerobic adventure. We also met some lovely neighbors and found out what we needed to know about this property. By 10:45, my clients had decided not to make an Offer to Purchase in this property, in a hurry and in competition. I let the listing agent know, right away. She thanked me and said she’d call the other buyers with a counter-offer.
Our theory: Since the house is overpriced, the other buyers thought they had a shot by putting in a low Offer when no one else could see the house. My clients decided to let them play out their try for a lower price. If those buyers fail, a low Offer from my clients will confirm that the sellers have overpriced their property. The first low Offer makes a seller unhappy; the second makes them wonder.
I know it is counter-intuitive that a house that has been sitting around suddenly has multiple takers. This happens because on-the-ball agents follow-up on showings and know who might still be interested. A few calls can yield an extra Offer on the table. There are occasional “phantom buyers,” with their Offer that do not exist, but in my experience agents, don’t underestimate me enough to pull that silly ploy on me.
Do you think we were played for fools? Have you experienced the “phantom buyer” ploy?
Do you think this overpriced house will actually go under agreement before the weekend? (I’ll update this entry if it happens.)
Update: It was a phantom. There was either no other offer or a totally unacceptable offer. The property went under agreement about three weeks later.
